Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 318: Happy Road Police Station

Li Weiguo placed great importance on the arrival of Lu Chuan.

At the entrance of the Happy Road Police Station, Li Weiguo, along with the deputy director and several key members of the station, welcomed Lu Chuan.

"Hello, Teacher Lu."

"Hello, Teacher Lu."

The others greeted him one by one.

"Hello, Director Li," Lu Chuan brought out his social ace, Chunghwa, and handed them out one by one.

Everyone was not surprised, as they all knew that Lu Chuan from the Criminal Investigation Team was associated with the Qiangsheng Group.

"Teacher Lu, come inside, Old Sun will make tea."

The Happy Road Police Station was established a long time ago and is the police station of the old district.

The development of Haizhou City, many years ago, started around Happy Road.

Back then, the site of Happy Road Police Station was also the site of the Haizhou City Public Security Bureau.

Thirty years ago, with the city’s expansion, the Public Security Bureau relocated, and this place became the Happy Road Police Station.

Therefore, the office building of Happy Road Police Station is quite old, with wooden floors that creak when stepped on.

"Our building here has over fifty years of history. After the relocation of the bureau, this place was abandoned for a period of time."

"It became the Happy Road Police Station about twenty years ago."

"Ten years ago, we planned to renovate the office building, but coincidentally that year the city conducted an assessment of cultural heritage buildings."

"All buildings over fifty years old became protected buildings, so we couldn’t do anything about this building."

"So, the conditions are a bit poor."

On the way to the meeting room, Li Weiguo explained the historical background of Happy Road Police Station to Lu Chuan.

Lu Chuan nodded, noting that the Happy Road Police Station is indeed quite old, with most of the interior furnishings made of solid wood.

And although it only has two floors, the ceiling heights are quite high, roughly over four meters, resembling auditorium-style buildings.

"The building is indeed a bit old, but looking at it now, the decor has its own charm. Moreover, such old buildings are warm in winter and cool in summer, which in some ways are actually better than new buildings."

"Besides, Happy Road is a place where every inch of land is worth gold. Our station is right in the center of Happy Road, next to the Second Elementary School and behind it is the Thirteenth Middle School; it’s undoubtedly a school borough."

"Haha, Teacher Lu is right, this is the only convenience we have here, warm in winter and cool in summer, without needing air conditioning."

"It’s also indeed convenient for work... Teacher Lu, please have a seat."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while and getting familiar, everyone sat down, and Li Weiguo tentatively asked, "Teacher Lu, shall we take a look at the case first?"

"Director Li, just call me Lu Chuan, I’m no teacher."

"As for the case, I’m just here to help with some technical work. I heard from my mentor that the case has been open for three days?"

Upon hearing this, Li Weiguo became quite distressed.

This case is actually not very big, and the suspect didn’t really manage to steal anything.

"The case is a bit bizarre."

Li Weiguo began to introduce: "The case occurred at noon on May 29th. The victim is named Wang Yue, residing at No. 28 Happy Road, Brocade International Apartments."

"Based on the information we currently have, the suspect probably did not intend to commit robbery but attempted burglary."

"However, on that day, Wang Yue was at home resting due to a cold, and came face to face with the suspect."

"Did they have a confrontation?"

"No, the suspect opened the door with a master key. Wang Yue’s rented apartment is a LOFT type, with the bedroom upstairs. The suspect woke Wang Yue while rummaging downstairs."

"Then the intruder grabbed a luxury wallet and fled."

As Li Weiguo explained, Lu Chuan understood.

Indeed, what the suspect intended to do should have been burglary, not robbery.

But, what’s the difference between home invasion robbery and burglary?

The simplest distinction is whether there is anyone inside the house.

If there is someone, entering is robbery; if no one, it’s burglary.

Whether the person is asleep or aware of someone entering doesn’t matter.

As long as there is someone, it is robbery.

"Are there any fingerprints or footprints? Is the scene still preserved?"

"Fingerprints and footprints have been collected, but the owner has tidied up the scene."

"Alright, let me first take a look at the fingerprints and footprints."

"Sure," Li Weiguo was hoping for exactly this help from Lu Chuan: "On our side, we can take a rough look, but our technical level is definitely far off."

"If we follow the procedure, who knows when it will be?"

"Teacher Lu, thank you for coming here this time."

"No need for courtesy, Director Li. Let me first check the fingerprints. I can’t guarantee to analyze them, but let’s give it a try."

Ten minutes later.

Indeed, the fingerprints extracted by the police station colleagues could be described as indescribable.

The method of extracting fingerprints was unified, using the transparent adhesive tape method.

There were a total of six fingerprints; not all were completely fragmented, but just by looking, it was evident they had been heavily damaged.

The footprints were slightly better, extracted using the powder method, with a total of three footprints.

Although not very clear, they could at least be analyzed.

"Were the fingerprints of the reporter, Wang Yue, collected?"

"Yes, they have been entered into the system."

Lu Chuan directly pulled up Wang Yue’s fingerprints from the system.

In some cases, fingerprint identification can play a significant role, but in others, maybe not.

For instance, in this case, which might originally have been just a burglary, elevated to a robbery due to unforeseen circumstances, would the suspect be silly enough not to wear gloves?

If true, Li Weiguo and his team probably wouldn’t have been able to remain unarrested for three days.

Therefore, the first comparison Lu Chuan wanted to make was not with the database in the system but with the fingerprints of the homeowner Wang Yue.

This would save a lot of time.

As Lu Chuan anticipated.

Among the six fingerprints, four belonged to Wang Yue herself.

Lu Chuan made this accurate judgment in less than ten minutes.

From this, Lu Chuan was largely able to judge that the suspect was probably wearing gloves.

The remaining two fingerprints, Lu Chuan took less than forty minutes to solve.

Sun Miao, Zhang Shengzhi.

Li Weiguo was very excited after receiving the appraisal report.

"We’ll investigate right away!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Director Li, I think you shouldn’t hold onto much hope."

"What do you mean?"

"Gloves. Six fingerprints, with four belonging to Wang Yue, and the two remaining individuals are likely not the culprits either."

"After all, if the suspect didn’t wear gloves, they wouldn’t leave so few fingerprints."

Lu Chuan could doubt the police station’s ability to extract fingerprints, but not their dedication. The fingerprint detection should be accurate.

"I’ve thought about this too, but there really are no other options at the moment. We have to try."

"At the time, Wang Yue didn’t see the suspect’s face at all?"